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This is Maksim Poliakov from the online outlet 7x7. Russian authorities have been rolling out facial recognition systems across the regions since 2016. Over the past nine years, the number of cameras connected to the system has exceeded 1 million across the country, according to Maksut Shadayev, Minister of Digital Development. And that number is only going to grow. By 2030, the Ministry plans to spend 12 billion rubles on installing 5 million AI-powered cameras. Officials and law enforcement justify this surveillance by citing public safety and crime prevention. They promise a 30% increase in solved cases compared to areas without cameras. But they say nothing about how this software might violate citizens’ rights. In this newsletter, I’ll tell you how the facial recognition system has spread across Russian regions  and which rules the state tends to ignore when quietly keeping its people under watch.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

How Facial Recognition Cameras Work

A facial recognition system is a technology that identifies or verifies a person’s identity based on an image. The technology itself isn’t located in the cameras. The cameras simply transmit video footage to equipment with software capable of analyzing and matching a frame to a portrait in a database.

Authorities collect portraits for comparison from social networks, the Gosuslugi portal (State Services), passports, banks, and any other databases accessible to them. Sergey Ross, founder of the research center Collective Action, believes that poor-quality images can lead to false identifications.

One such case nearly landed Yaroslavl-based hydrologist Alexander Tsvetkov, a scientist at the Institute for the Biology of Inland Waters of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in prison. The system identified him based on a composite sketch made from witness descriptions 20 years ago. The match was just 55%. Still, in 2023, law enforcement officers detained Tsvetkov and accused him of three murders. He provided an alibi. During the time the crimes were committed, he was on a business trip in another region, something confirmed by his institute. Nevertheless, the judge sent him to a pre-trial detention center.

Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Human Rights Council, brought up Tsvetkov’s case to President Putin. A week later, the scientist was released from custody. Nearly three months after that, his wife announced that the criminal case had been dropped. It is unclear whether Putin influenced this decision.

There is no centralized data center in Russia where footage from all the cameras across the country is analyzed. In 2022, Moscow’s Department of Information Technologies proposed collecting the data in the city’s Unified Data Storage Center. This would benefit the regions. They wouldn’t need to purchase hardware and software on their own. However, as of this publication, authorities have not yet managed to consolidate video streams from different regions.

New technologies and features for facial recognition systems are usually introduced in Moscow first, and only later in the rest of the country. That was the case with the system itself. Mass implementation began in Moscow and a few other cities (which ones exactly, Rostec — the company conducting the testing — didn’t say) back in 2018. While Moscow immediately began widespread use, the system spread more actively to the regions only after 2020.

Maria Nemova, a lawyer with OVD-Info, told 7x7 that the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions that came with it spurred the spread of facial recognition systems. Authorities used the software to monitor quarantine violators.

“The mass use of facial recognition started with COVID-19. On one hand, it's justified by safety. But with the pandemic, society crossed a psychological threshold when it comes to the inviolability of biometric data,” says digital expert Mikhail Klimarev.

According to Maria Nemova, modern cameras and recognition systems can even capture sensitive information like a person’s facial expressions and gait. This data allows AI to assess whether someone may pose a threat and build a profile of a citizen, which the lawyer says looks like an attempt to “get inside a person’s thoughts.”

Why the Use of Facial Recognition Systems Is Dangerous for Russians

The only Russian law that mentions facial recognition systems is the federal law on the experimental introduction of artificial intelligence. But its wording is too vague — it doesn’t specify who can use these systems, how, under what circumstances, or who is allowed to make changes to them.

It’s also unclear who, besides law enforcement agencies, has access to the software. This poses a risk: corrupt government employees could leak citizens’ personal data to scammers, stalkers, or anyone willing to pay. This has already happened. MBK Media journalist Andrey Kagansky managed to purchase data from a facial recognition system. Anna Kuznetsova, a volunteer with Roskomsvoboda, paid 16,000 rubles to obtain information about her own movements.

A leak of biometric data could also occur if hackers manage to breach the system. Digital expert Mikhail Klimarev told 7x7 that the authorities don’t explain how the installed software is protected, so it’s unclear how easy it would be to hack and access all the biometric data stored within.

How Society Resists

In 2018, lawyer and human rights advocate Alyona Popova held a solo protest outside the State Duma. She was demanding that MP Leonid Slutsky resign after being accused of sexual harassment. That protest cost her a 20,000-ruble fine (200 euro). Screenshots from street surveillance footage were used as evidence in the administrative case.

A year later, Popova filed a lawsuit against the Moscow government, demanding that the use of facial recognition be declared illegal. But the court ruled that no laws had been violated. A second lawsuit was also dismissed.

Nikolai Glukhin, who in 2019 rode the metro holding a cardboard cutout of political prisoner Konstantin Kotov and was fined for it, took his case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In 2023, the court ruled that Russian authorities had violated Glukhin’s rights to privacy and freedom of expression. However, since the war in Ukraine began, Russia has ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights. The government agreed to pay compensation only for rulings that took effect before March 15, 2022. The ECHR continues to review complaints against Russia for violations committed before September 16, 2022.

To fully hide one’s face and key features from facial recognition cameras, a person would need a medical mask, glasses, and a hat. Other options include makeup that changes appearance or reflective masks. But these don't reduce risk. Instead, they may attract unwanted attention from the police.

Sergey Ross, founder of the research group Collective Action, believes that resisting facial recognition depends on the system itself. Its technical features and software capabilities, which often evolve quickly. According to Ross, it’s better to choose routes without surveillance cameras. It’s hard to plan such a route, but in some areas it’s still possible.

Ross says facial recognition systems instill a sense of "learned helplessness" in civil society:

“A person might not go — or not even consider going — to a protest or public demonstration. They’ll avoid any situation where they might get detained.”

Who Benefits from the Installation of Facial Recognition Systems

In addition to the government, which is interested in maintaining control over its citizens, large state-owned corporations also support the development of facial recognition systems. For example, Sberbank for them, the development and existence of such technology can serve as a tool of influence. Technology and data function as a kind of currency: corporations can trade them for favors from the state or use them to sway government decisions. Like any business, Sberbank also benefits from collecting more information about its clients to better understand their needs.

Digital expert Mikhail Klimarev believes that regional authorities are also interested in deploying facial recognition systems. Officials sign contracts for software and camera installation, can collude with contractors, and launder money through public procurement. The cost of these contracts can reach tens or even hundreds of millions of rubles.

Facial recognition systems are significantly more efficient than humans. To maintain round-the-clock surveillance at a single road intersection, the state would need at least four employees per month. Their salaries would cost the region more than running the system and maintaining a single 360-degree camera over the same time, Klimarev added.

"Facial recognition systems really are incredibly expensive," said lawyer Maria Nemova. "But considering the Russian government’s ambitions and intentions to monitor as many people as possible, as closely as possible, I wouldn’t be surprised if authorities prioritized installing facial recognition in every village over something like running gas lines."